My Dream of Forever
by TwiHEAcontest
Summary: Life begins at forty, or so they say. But mine began at thirty-nine on a subway train. It began with one question I posed to a total stranger—"Excuse me… will you be my sperm donor?" I must add he was a gorgeous hunk of a man, so don't blame me if I wanted him for my baby daddy! Contest entry for the Happily Ever After TwiFic Contest.


**Contest entry for the Happily Ever After TwiFic Contest**

**Title: My Dream of Forever**

**Pairing: Edward/Bella**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Life begins at forty, or so they say. But mine began at thirty-nine on a subway train. It began with one question I posed to a total stranger—"Excuse me… will you be my sperm donor?" I must add he was a gorgeous hunk of a man, so don't blame me if I wanted him for my baby daddy!**

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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"Excuse me… will you be my sperm donor?"

I watched as deep emerald eyes grew huge with surprise, horror, and finally worry. Guess the gorgeous guy I'd just approached on the subway thought I was some kind of a lunatic. And I felt nothing... At the back of my mind, something reminded me that I must be crazy for asking a total stranger to be my baby daddy. It was against all the social norms. I was never one to make such rash decisions either, but my visit to my doctor that morning had changed everything for me.

My success in life as an interior designer owning my own firm, my double degrees, my white-picket-fenced-house; they all meant nothing in the face of reality. I was thirty-nine years old and was still waiting for Mr. Right and my perfect life with him to begin. Like every little girl, I had dreamed of a fairy-tale wedding and a house complete with a porch swing where I would grow old with my prince, watching our grandkids play in the backyard. Well, I had at least got the house part of it. And yes, there was a porch swing in which I would cuddle up and read books, picturing myself as the heroine, finally winning the man of her dreams.

"Er…miss, what did you say?"

I tried very hard to avoid looking at the red, pouty lips of the young man standing in front of me and concentrate on his eyes once again.

"I need a sperm donor. I'm going for IVF. I would be very grateful to you if you would consider donating your sperm. I would, of course, be willing to make the standard compensations for your trouble."

This time, the man with the Greek god-like-physique took a step back from me, pressing himself against the side of the door of the subway train. Since when did I ride the subway? Come to think of it, I was sure I had ridden to the hospital in my car.

"I…I thought I heard right." The gorgeous creature shook his head as if he was trying to get rid of a bad memory. The train stopped at a station, and I used it as an excuse to move closer to my target— the handsome young man.

"I saw you give up your seat to the lady with the child over there. I want my child to be courteous."

An indiscernible emotion passed across the man's handsome face.

"And I think you are gorgeous." He really was. His hair was messy and an odd shade of copper—his jaw strong. Did I mention the kissable pouty lips?

"Er…thank you, I think. And you want your children to look good?" This time, the man's lips formed a crooked half-smile. Wow! Sexy!

"Yes, of course. Who wouldn't?"

"What about brains?"

"That too."

"How do you know whether I'm qualified in that area?" He leaned his head to the side as if to study me.

"You must have some brains to think to ask about that, so I guess you'll do."

"I'll do…er…" Oh! Those hands. I hadn't noticed them. He used one of them now to run through his messy hair in agitation.

"I'm Edward, Edward Cullen." He suddenly held out his hand. I looked at it in surprise. Wow, I'm going to be able to touch him.

"Bella Swan. It's er... nice to meet you." Oh, God. Those long fingers engulfed mine in a firm handshake, and something like an electric shock passed through me. I took a step back. I smelled danger. I'd better get to the point again.

"So have you made a decision?"

"No. Not yet. I must be crazy to even think about it, but I promise you, I will. Can I have your number?" _You can have my number anytime, honey_, I thought to myself as I wrote my number down. I didn't ask for his. It would have been pushing my luck.

"Aha…just one more question—how old are you?" I don't remember the doctor mentioning age, but hey, he said I was too old to get pregnant, so that should apply to men too, right?

"I'm twenty-nine. Not too old to father a child, I hope." And then he chuckled. I didn't reply—I couldn't reply. I was too busy watching his pouty lips as they angled upwards. He stared back at me for what seemed like an infinite moment. The sound of opening doors finally broke through the haze and he looked away from me toward the platform.

"That's my station. I'll call you when I make my decision."

I stood there gaping, transfixed, watching him walk away from me. Oh! Those pouty lips. I would love to kiss them, but the doctor had not said anything about making love. Thinking of the doctor brought the most horrifying words I have ever heard in my life to come to the forefront of my mind.

"Miss Swan, I'm sorry to inform you that your chances of getting pregnant at this age are quite slim, especially, with your progressive condition."

I supposedly had a condition called Endo-something. God! I hated those medical terms. And it sounded bad, especially, if I couldn't even remember or pronounce the name of the said condition. Anyway, it wouldn't have been an issue if I was younger, but it had progressed to the state that I would need to go through IVF to get pregnant.

I sighed.

It was my own fault. My last visit to the gynaecologist had been six years before. At the time, I had been in tip-top condition. Everything had looked bright and sparkly. I had even thought I'd found the perfect life partner in Jake, but the scumbag had ended up sleeping with my best friend, Leah. I'd ended up losing my best friend and fiancé in one go. This also meant I took nearly three to four years to recover from that setback, and learn to trust again.

At least I have now sorted out the best friend part, getting friendly with a pixie-like girl who was the total opposite of studious Leah. Oh, did I mention Leah and I were business partners, too? She did manage to scam me out of some money before I had her tossed out of the business. So yeah, I had three major catastrophes to get over. So is it any wonder I took six years to recover?

Well, at least Alice's news that she was pregnant prompted me to pay a visit to my own doctor two weeks ago. That led to a laparoscopy, and yes, the diagnosis of this condition, which supposedly plagues twenty percent of the female population. And guess what, not everyone with it had trouble conceiving; I fell into the four percent that did have trouble. Lucky me!

"This train service will terminate at the next station. All passengers please disembark."

I looked around me. _Where was I?_ I realised I had travelled nearly halfway across the city, and my car was still at the hospital parking lot. Come to think of it, how did I actually end up on the train? Oh, that's right—I followed that copper-haired angel of a man from the hospital where he had been visiting an elderly lady.

His sunny disposition had first attracted me to him, and I was desperately thinking of what the doctor had said about sperm donation. Oh yes. I had already gone through the anonymous donor lists kindly provided to me by the hospital staff, and I had just realised that I didn't want a nameless nobody to father my children. I wanted to know him in person. _I must be completely mad_, I thought as I got into a train going in the opposite direction. When I arrived at the hospital's station, I decided to put this whole issue behind me for at least a few hours. I was not in a good state of mind to make proper decisions.

I found my car and headed back to the office. I arrived in no time, but I was very late, which also meant facing the Spanish inquisition from Alice. Sadly, all she had to do was quirk an eyebrow at me to get me to spill the beans. I was that agitated.

"Bella! My God! Are you mad? You mean to tell me you followed a complete stranger and then asked him to donate sperm?" Alice asked with her eyes as big as saucers.

"I guess I did." I sighed. Yes. I was crazy. I do need time to process things.

"Bella Swan, I think you have lost your mind."

"I agree."

"You do?" the pixie screeched in surprise.

"Yes, I do. Now what do you think I should do?"

"This man actually asked for your number and promised to call you?"

"Yes, he did."

"Well, he's mad, too, then," Alice said, scratching her head.

"What do I do now?"

"Well, since you didn't like the other anonymous donors, you might as well wait for his call," she said thoughtfully.

"What if he doesn't call?"

"Give him a week. After all, you've spent years in limbo. What's another week? You might as well wait for him since he was crazy enough to ask for your number."

"Well, I can do that. And if he doesn't call?"

"If he doesn't, then we'll follow another gorgeous hunk and make the same proposition to him. You did it once. You can do it again." Alice's tinkling laughter rang out. It reminded me of why I liked my new best friend so much. She took things easy as they came, never worrying too much about the pros and cons. If I told Leah, she would have freaked out by then and even called the police to locate Edward Cullen, if that was even his real name, to find out whether he was a psycho. And I would have had to visit a psychotherapist myself.

Things got a bit hectic for me over the next week, and thankfully, I had more things to focus on other than the baby daddy issue.

It was late afternoon the following week when I got a call from an unknown number.

"Hello, can I speak with Bella Swan?"

"This is Bella speaking."

"It's me, Edward." I nearly dropped the phone in surprise. I hadn't actually expected him to call. Only Alice had been optimistic enough to think he would call. "Oh…I…thanks for calling."

"Listen. I've been thinking about your request, and I'd like to know some more details about it before I make a decision."

"You…er, need details?"

"Yes. I really have no idea what all this entails. So can I meet you for coffee someplace?"

"Yeah sure." Yeah, I met strangers for coffee to discuss baby matters regularly. _Who was I kidding? What if he pulled a gun on me? What did I say then?_ But I really didn't want to lose this opportunity.

"You choose the location. I'll be there."

I sighed in relief. At least he thought more of safety than me. I quickly gave him the name of a small coffee shop I frequently went to with Alice. The owners knew me, so if something bad happened, they would be there to rescue me. Alice thought it was a great idea and even volunteered to come with me, but I thought it might scare my potential baby daddy. Alice can be scary at times with her overly enthusiastic nature.

I chose a table at the back of the shop ordering my favourite mocha. I had arrived a bit early to try to calm my nerves. I reminded myself again about the purpose of this visit.

"Hello, Bella. It's good to see you again."

I was startled when I heard the soft, velvety voice. I remembered his voice from the train. My memories hadn't done him justice. He looked stunning.

"It's good to see you too, Edward. Thank you for coming."

"My pleasure." His eyes suddenly grew intense. He looked at me, really looked at me, his eyes running from the top of my head to what was visible over the table. Then he smiled, and I forgot what I was supposed to say next.

"So tell me, Bella. What does being your baby daddy entail?"

"It…er…you just have to donate sperm."

"I got that part. But how do I go about…er…donating my sperm? I think you look lovely, and I actually wouldn't mind… you know…" to my great astonishment, the tips of his ears turned red.

"Wait a second…what did you just say?" I was very confused. Why was he finding this embarrassing? Something kept nagging at the back of my mind. He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his beautiful bronze locks.

"I…I wouldn't mind making love to you. That's how babies are made, isn't it?" It was my turn to blush. Of course that was how babies were made, but my stupid condition meant that it was not going to work for me.

"I'm afraid you misunderstood."

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I just…" He sounded mortified.

"It was a genuine mistake, and I should have made things clear to you." Was it disappointment I read in those emerald depths? So he had wanted to make love to me. Wow! Me! This gorgeous creature had actually considered making love to me as an option.

"You see, I have this condition called Endometriosis, and I am not able to have children by normal conception. I'd have to go through an IVF, that is, in-vitro fertilisation to conceive. I can use my own eggs, but I would need someone else's sperm to fertilise them. You see, I'm not married, and I'm thirty-nine. This is my last chance to get pregnant."

"A beautiful lady like you must have a lot of admirers."

"Unfortunately, one that I could consider spending the rest of my life with, so I don't want to complicate things by asking for sperm. You see, I still hold high hopes on meeting Mr. Right."

"You know, Bella. I like the way you are thinking. Even in your desperation, you are not willing to give up your dreams of marrying the right guy. And I understand the reasons behind you wanting a complete stranger to father your child."

"Not a perfect stranger. The hospital provided me with a list of anonymous sperm donors, but I don't want a complete stranger to father my child."

"I'm confused. Why me, then?"

"I know you. At least, I've seen you and talked to you. I know how you move, how you talk, and I've observed the way you interact with people. So you are not a perfect stranger to me. I know you at a certain level."

"I understand, Bella. Okay, fine."

I nearly fell out of my chair then and there. "Okay, fine as in…in?" I stammered, afraid to actually say the words.

"Yes, I want to be your baby daddy."

Those were the words that changed both our lives forever.

I screamed out loud as another contraction hit me.

"Edward, I'm going to kill you if you want to ever have sex with me again."

"But I didn't have sex with you to have this baby."

Come to think of it he hadn't. But my God! Sex with him was out of this world! I mean, it's that good.

I remembered the first time we made love. It had been exactly two months after I had first met him. He had come with me to the doctor's for the blood test to determine whether our attempt at IVF was successful. He had actually come with me for all my doctor's visits. I had been surprised at all the attention because, according to our baby daddy agreement, he only needed to come on the day of egg retrieval to provide the hospital with his sperm. But he had insisted on being in touch with me, and we had gone for all the appointments together. He had even once helped me with the injections, and he had visited me almost every day during my two week waiting time for the implantation to happen. Alice had brought me food, but Edward was the one who had kept me company. I had learned that he was a musician, and he composed music for a living. We shared many common interests, despite of our age gap of nearly ten years. Our friendship had grown over the next couple of weeks. I could tell there was a lot of mutual attraction between us—small touches when he helped me sit up or when he kissed me on my forehead.

So, when we finally heard the good news that I was indeed pregnant with his seed, we had wanted to celebrate.

"Bella, come out to dinner with me. We've got to celebrate." I had agreed wholeheartedly. After being cooped up in the house for two weeks with only nerves to keep me company, it was a welcome relief to be out.

Dinner had been great, and I had invited him in for a cup of tea when he dropped me off. Yes. He had a car too, and by some miracle, it had been in the garage that fateful day he had taken the subway. Tea had turned into a cuddle session by mistake or by design on his part. I would never know, because the next thing I knew I was laying on the sofa with him hovering above me. He hadn't even kissed me on the lips yet. But there was also a certain intimacy between us. We both knew then that a part of him was growing inside of me.

"Bella, tell me if you don't want this. The doctor said it was safe, but I want you to be sure."

"You asked?" Wow! This man had spoken to my doctor about sex, specifically about sex with me. Double wow!

"Yes, Bella. From the moment I met you on that train, there was something about you that I couldn't resist. I was attracted to you from the moment you spoke to me. And then I had dreams of making love to you so that I could be your sperm donor."

"Oh, I remember your disappointment on hearing about the IVF." He had a self-disparaging smile on his face.

"Yes, I was so disappointed that I wasn't going to get the chance to make love to you, but I just couldn't let you go. I wanted to get to know you better."

"I wanted to get to know you better too." I smiled up at him, pulling at a stray lock of bronze hair.

"Bella, if we do this, there is no turning back. I want more from you than friendship or being your baby daddy."

"What do you mean?" I was sure my jaw was hanging out in my surprise.

"I want to be Daddy to this baby in every sense of the word."

"You mean…you mean…"

"Yes, I mean, I'm in love with you, Bella. I'm in love with the beautiful, feisty woman that took a huge risk by propositioning a stranger on a subway train." He shook his head in bemusement.

"Oh, Edward." I knew I cared for him too. Who was I kidding? I knew I loved him, but I had to give him the choice.

"Bella, I know it's a lot to take in, but please, consider my proposition too. After all, I said yes to yours." He had a good point there.

"Edward, are you sure? I mean, I'm nearly ten years older than you…and your life has not even begun." He smiled that crooked smile down at me, and I was lost.

"My life began the day I met you, Bella."

"I love you too, Edward." I couldn't hold out any longer. I had to tell him my feelings.

"Oh, God, Bella." He crashed his lips on mine, and I was floating in heaven. I don't know how long we kissed each other, but I was brought out of my Edward-induced ecstasy by the feeling of his hands on the buttons on my blouse. It was really going to happen…I felt cold dread spread over me.

This was the first time I was going to make love after Jake left me. He had actually said that I didn't have a nice body and that was why he turned to Leah. Nothing could have killed my confidence more than those hurtful words. I had exercised like hell and done my best to look good in the years after the break-up, but the scars were too deep for me to become vulnerable and expose myself to a man after that. I must be crazy to take this step with a man younger and more youthful than me. My God—ten years!

"Edward, I er…I don't know whether…I mean, I'm old, and time has not been kind to me." Edward looked at me in a daze. Then, he tenderly stroked away tendrils of hair that had fallen over my face.

"Bella, you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met."

"But…" He placed a finger over my lips to stop me from speaking.

"Bella, you are beautiful both on the outside as well as from within. You have such a beautiful heart. Let me show you how much I love you, sweetheart." What do I say to that? I forgot what I was going to say next when Edward started kissing me again.

"Bella, oh God, I have wanted you for so long." Edward's trembling hands started undoing my buttons again. Suddenly, he gave a frustrated groan and tore my blouse apart. I heard buttons flying everywhere. I didn't have time to worry about it because Edward pulled down my bra cups and started sucking on my nipples. The feeling was amazing. I held him closer to me, trying to ease the tension building up in my core. I pushed against his very obvious hardness.

"Take it off…please…" Edward whispered when my hands hesitantly reached for his shirt. I tried very hard to undo the buttons, but they kept slipping. Once again, Edward took things into his own hands and simply tore his shirt off, leaving his chest bare. I reached up to run my hands through the smattering of soft, bronze curls covering his hard, muscular chest.

"Bella…can I?" I felt Edward's hands touch the zipper of my skirt. I nodded my head. I felt the cool air hit me as Edward removed my skirt, leaving me in my red lace panties. Thanks to Alice, I had acquired a taste for sexy underwear.

"My God, Bella…are you trying to kill me?" Edward stared in surprise at my panties, which didn't leave much to the imagination.

"Matching bra and panties…" he muttered, shaking his head in wonder.

"Do you like it?" I couldn't resist teasing him.

"Like it?" He looked at me with that crooked smile. "I love it." Then he started kissing up my inner thigh. All forms of thought left me, and I could only feel. He pulled the material of the panties aside and placed a kiss on me right there! What he did next shocked me to the core.

"Edward, er…you shouldn't. I…I smell down there." Jacob had refused to go down on me the only time I asked him to. He had told me that I smell and that girls were unclean. But he had got me to use my mouth on him every time we made love.

"What? Yeah, you smell delicious. I can do this all night." _Oh! God! What was he doing to me? _

"Edward, stop, it's not…it's not right…"

"It's right for me." He continued ignoring what I was trying to say, and it was obvious he was enjoying himself because his growing harder against my foot. Who was I to dispute him when he wanted this as much as I did? So I shut my mouth and let him do whatever he wanted to do. It didn't take much for me to have the most amazing release I had ever had. Wow!

"Bella, I… I can't hold on much longer. Are you ready?"

"Y…yes please." It was all I could get out since I was out of breath. The next thing I knew, he pushed right in and we were intimately joined. The feeling was amazing. I had never felt this connection with Jacob. It didn't take long for both of us to reach our peaks. The moment was out of this world, pure ecstasy, and we were both panting when we lay down, holding each other closely. I barely managed to catch my breath before Edward made me forget to breathe altogether with his next question.

"Bella, love, will you marry me?"

" ,of course." And then I broke down crying.

"Bella…I love you so much." Edward kissed away my tears, whispering how much he adored me and loved me. It was so good to feel so cherished by someone.

And that was the start of our forever.

_And now…_

"That's it, Mrs. Cullen, one more push and we'll be there." To hell with it, I screamed out loud as I gave it my all.

I heard the piercing scream of our daughter, or was it our son?

"Now, once more,Mrs. Cullen."Holy shit! Why did we go for IVF again? And why twins?

"Bella, it's just this one time, remember? We talked about it? We'll get one of each."

"One of each! I'll show you one of each!" I was going to punch his face; the pain was unbearable.

"Here's your son, Mrs. Cullen." And just like that, all thoughts of a punch went out of my mind. Edward took the bundle of blue from the nurse and brought him closer to me. His tiny mouth opened, and another piercing scream broke out of his soft, pouty lips. Aha, so he inherited his father's pouty lips. I reached out to take the screaming bundle from Edward.  
"Now, Mrs. Cullen, before you hold the baby, I need you to give another push. Just a little bit more, and we'll be finished."

"That's what you said the last time." I growled at him.

"Well, this time, it's really the last." I felt the contraction building and pushed along with it, but didn't punch Edward. I couldn't bear to hurt the precious, little bundle he held.

"There we go. All done."Another shrill scream joined its twin.

"We've got some very hungry babies here, Mrs. Cullen." The doctor laughed, congratulating us.

As I held our little baby boy and girl to my chest, I thought about our happily ever after. I looked at the man by my side. He turned to me and grinned.

I had taken a huge risk that day on the subway train—a chance I would never have taken had I been half sane. But, to tell you the truth, that was the best decision I had ever made in my life. Now I had a gorgeous husband by my side, with two lovely children, and oh, yes, don't forget the white-picket-fenced house. I have it all. I'm living my dream. But if I hadn't gone after it and given it my all to fulfill that dream no matter what the risks, I wouldn't be here today. So, live life to the fullest, and that's how you earn your happily ever after.

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